Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

===The Competent Man===
A common theme in Heinlein's writing is his frequent use of the "competent man", a [[stock character]] who exhibits a very wide range of abilities and knowledge, making him a form of [[polymath]]. This trope was notably common in 1950s U.S. science fiction.<ref>Ellen Weil and Gary K. Wolfe, ''Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever'', Ohio State University Press, 2002 Page 53. {{ISBN|978-081-420892-2}}</ref> While Heinlein was not the first to use such a character type, the heroes and heroines of his fiction (with [[Jubal Harshaw]] being a prime example) generally have a wide range of abilities, and one of Heinlein's characters, [[Lazarus Long]], gives a wide summary of requirements:

{{blockquote|A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
|Robert Heinlein, ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''<ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', Ace Books (paperback edition, 1988). Page 248. {{ISBN|978-0-441-81076-5}}</ref><ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[The Notebooks of Lazarus Long]]'', G.P. Putnam's Sons. (paperback edition, 1978). SBN 399-12242-7</ref>}}

Predecessors of Heinlein's competent heroes include the protagonists of [[George Bernard Shaw]], like Henry Higgins in ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' and Caesar in [[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|''Caesar and Cleopatra'']], as well as the citizen soldiers in [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s "[[The Army of a Dream]]".